Parthasarathy Shome appointed adviser to Chidambaram

Government today appointed tax expert Parthasarathy Shome as adviser to Finance Minister P Chidambaram with the rank of Minister of State.

"Parthasarathy Shome has been appointed as Adviser to Finance Minister, in the rank of Minister of State, co-terminus with the period of office of the Finance Minister," said an official release.

Shome was appointed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as the Chairman of Committee on General Anti-Avoidance Rules (GAAR) in July.

The committee submitted its draft report in September wherein it has suggested deferring implementation of GAAR by three years to April 2016. The committee also submitted its final report to the Finance Minister in October.

The Committee was also asked to give its views on the retrospective tax laws amendment, which has created a controversy as it sought to undo the Supreme Court judgement in the Vodafone case.

Between October 2004 - January 2008, Shome acted as adviser to the then Union Finance Minister. He was also a member of the Prime Minister's Trade & Economic Relations Committee.

As co-convener, Shome submitted the first report on Goods and Services Tax (GST) to the Empowered Committee of state FMs and Union Finance Minister in December 2007.

Shome, who has authored several books on tax policies, was a Professor with the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER).

He has earlier worked with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and also advised the World Bank and the United Nations in various projects.